December Descent
by Mystereames
Summary: Temperatures are rising and the air quality of the Northwest has caused epidemic lung disease. Terrorists have blown up the largest hydro-electric dam causing electricity and irrigation to be in short supply. Successful Mayor Alice Harken agrees to be part of the US government's insurance against the future by leading a group of civilians to an underground city called Ember
1. The Trip East

Alice Harken looked out the darkened windows of the Humvee as the fields fell slowly by. It was December 15, but by the looks of it, you would think it was October. On both sides of the highway, millet and sorghum was being harvested by combines as they plowed side by side up the hills cutting down the unseasonable crop. The low-water grains had pretty much replaced the regular winter wheat planted in the region. With trucks waiting in the field, they emptied the grain through their hoppers, creating clouds of orange dust that mixed with the already scorched looking atmosphere. The sun blazed through the afternoon sky and all Alice could do was shake her head.

In the Inland Northwest, farmers weren't exactly doing that great. With the ever so slight increase in the earth's temperature over the last decade, most had been forced to change what crops they were growing. In addition to the drought tolerant grains, they also had taken up artichokes and broccoli as the California drought had only deepened since the turn of the century.

Much of California had moved to the northern regions of the U.S. and some into Canada. Although people flock to the tropics on vacation, when you're not sitting on a cruise boat or beach sipping a pina colada, living there is quite different. And with summer temperatures in L.A. exceeding 110 routinely and no offshore Santa Ana breezes anymore, there was little left to stay for.

This brought a flood of cheap labor alongside the those who already been working the fields for three generations. Along the economic boost that Washington and Oregon received, the mass migration also brought the inevitable social services disaster too. Mayor Harken thought of the many families in her city that had come looking for work and settled down not because there were jobs to be had, but because they had family that were working. And welfare benefits in Washington weren't nearly as rich as they were in California either.

"It's a shame isn't it," she said absent-mindedly to the mid 20-year-old-or-so officer who sat stoically in the seat opposite her, who seemed to be taking a nap with his eyes open.

"What's that ma'am," said the soldier politely and clearly alert.

"How many times have I driven on this highway back and forth to college and the fields here in December were covered with snow? Sometimes, we could only go 25-30 miles per hour and I remember one epic trip home from college that actually took 6 hours."

"Yes ma'am. That is a shame. I understand that you're the mayor of Moses Lake? Care to tell your story?"

"You really want to hear this? Sergeant…" realizing she hadn't asked his name yet.

"Staff Sergeant Quilliam, ma'am, and I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know. We have 90 minutes to kill here," he said smiling for the first time since they'd gotten into the car.

Alice started with a wistful description of her college years. She had gone to school at a prestigious school (for the Northwest anyway) located in the middle of Spokane, just 100 miles from her home in Moses Lake. Nobody super notable had ever been graduated from the private liberal arts college, but the men's basketball team had made respectable showings during several seasons in the last couple decades.

She finished her poly sci degree with a minor in environmental studies before going on to get a Master's Degree in Public Administration at Cal-Berkley, the most liberal college in California. She had dreams of becoming a legislator and changing the backward policies of an inept congress who continued to deny man's role in global warming, among many other things. In addition to her passion for environmental politics, she also brought another passion with her to California – her new husband Daniel who had finished his undergraduate in environmental engineering. Their torrid romance was legendary in the Greek system on campus during their senior year

With her masters in hand, they moved back to her home town of Moses Lake, Washington.

The officer interrupted with a question, "Is it named Moses Lake because the highway runs through the middle of the lakes? You know, like Moses went through the Red Sea?"

Oh, OK, he really is interested, thought Alice. "No, but great question. The town was first called Neppel in 1910 and was a highly profitable lakeside orchard. But we became Moses Lake in 1938 when we officially incorporated, named after a local tribal area leader, Chief Moses. Back then – right before the war that is – it became the fastest growing community in Washington."

She went on to detail how the arrival of the Moses Lake Army Air Base, a new tourism industry, and abundant irrigation water fueled an agricultural boomtown as Moses Lake morphed into the population and service center of the Columbia River Basin. By the turn of the next century, the town only numbered around 15,000 people but was the anchor of the local economy.

Her husband Daniel quickly found a job testing water samples with the state. Alice could find nothing that suited her for six months and after sitting at home endlessly watching C-SPAN decided on a whim (with the help of some inheritance money) to throw herself into running for a state representative position at age 27 on an environmental platform. After a humiliating loss and incurring $10,000 in debt, the city's mayor, who was a longtime family friend, took her out to coffee and gave her some free and unsolicited advice. She described the encounter to the officer.

"You know what your problem is Alicia?" Mayor Evans asked, using the name he'd always called her. He didn't wait for an answer and didn't really care if she wanted to know. "You are all vim and vigor. You just graduated from college, you swagger back into town with your shiny Master's Degree, with your beau on your arm. And then you set yourself up to run for a statewide position without any history or knowledge here."

"I grew up here in Moses Lake," she began to protest before he raised his hand to stop her.

"Alicia – you haven't lived here for nearly a decade and even though you were student body president, you still didn't know squat about local politics. So you may have grown up here as a child, but you still have a lot more growing up to do here as an adult before people are going to pay any attention to you."

Alice hung her head, stung by the words, even though she knew he was right. She could barely raise her eyes from the greasy cup of coffee she swirled around in the cup.

The mayor lowered his voice. "Honey, you know I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. You know I love you and your family. Your dad was my right hand man, God bless his soul, and there's no way I could have run this town for the past 25 years without him.

"But dad-blum-it, Alicia." He raised and lowered his coffee cup down on the table just loud enough that a couple people turned their heads to look what had riled the even tempered mayor. He leaned forward, lowered his voice a little and held his gaze in her eyes. "People around here don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." The mayor let his last words hang in the air as if they should be written down in the book of Proverbs.

He took a long swig of coffee setting it down a little more quietly this time. "Now you can roll your eyes at me and throw your money away Alicia, but it's not going to get you elected if you don't live among the people first. I don't care how many liberal Californians have moved up here, besides the fact that half of them can't legally vote. You can't run on an environmental platform in Central Washington. This isn't Seattle. You grew up here and should be smart enough to know that Rep. Edwards has held that office since you were in diapers. You study his politics if you really want to get elected."

The waitress stopped by to top off their coffees but Mayor put his hand over his cup and said, "Thanks Rosie, I think that's probably enough for the day." Rosie poured some more for Alice and raised her eyebrows with an eyes-glazed-over look at Alice.

"Here's my advice, honey, take it or leave it. Settle into domestic life here, have some kids, get involved in your neighborhood association. Heck – come on down to City Hall and see if there's any jobs you can get your foot in the door with. Now, I can't pull any strings there – my new HR gal, Susie, runs everything by the books – but you can certainly use me as a reference and I'm hoping that is still worth something in this town."

"But I've got $45,000 in student loans to pay off. I can't settle for an $11 an hour job pushing paper!" she exclaimed, again drawing the attention of the other diner patrons.

"More like $55,000 if you reported your expenses correctly on your candidate forms." The mayor paused smugly for effect. "Now I know Daniel's job alone isn't going to dig you out from that anytime. And there are a lot of people in this town who would be grateful for $11 an hour."

Letting out a long sigh Alice leaned back in her bench, threw her head back and looked at the ceiling. She wanted the lecture to be over because she knew she he was right.

"Remember, I started out as a broom pusher in-", the mayor began before she cut him off.

"I know, I know. As a broom pusher in the library and then you worked your way up to mayor." The mayor pursed his lips together and looked down a little bit, obviously proud of his career in civic service. "You're right, you're right. It's just that I couldn't sit in my apartment all day watching our legislators make such a mess of things. I wanted to make a difference. I want to impact the world!"

"Oh You will Alicia Harken. You will. You just need to marinate in Moses Lake again for a little while and you'll come out tasting more palatable for the voters." The mayor grabbed his fedora to cover his balding head and got up. "Look, I gotta run an' get ready for the city council meeting tonight. So go down and talk with Susie in HR. Find out what's open and get something to put on your resume besides 'college graduate.' I'll see 'a around. Hey Chuck, hey Bill." He greeted a couple of guys as he opened the door, dinging the bell hanging over it. He stopped, turned and yelled, "You remind me of your dad, Alicia. And that's a good thing."

She liked the thought of being compared to her dad and it brought a bittersweet smile to her face. She got up and went to the cash register, reached into her purse for her wallet. Rosie yelled from Bill and Chuck's table, with the coffee carafe in her hand. "Honey, you gotta be faster than the mayor, he already got the check."

Rosie coming closer, setting the coffee down on the counter. "He really does care about people, doesn't he?"

"Yah, I guess he really does," Alice said quietly, wondering if Rosie wasn't rubbing in the mayor's proverbial statement just a little.

"Sorry about your campaign Alice. Better luck next time," she said and then lowered her voice. "For what it's worth, me and Vern voted for you, she said in a low voice. "We think it's time for some change, just a teensy bit," as she held her fingers up in an open pinch. "And hey, there's a job opening over at the library I hear. Might want to check it out. It's probably this small of of an opening too." Rosie snorted at her own joke.

Alice chuckled out loud. "What pushing a broom? Wouldn't that be ironic? I'll take a look. Thanks for your support and thanks for the tip. By the way, the coffee is burnt, Rosie."

"Well thanks for your tip too!" Rosie called out mockingly. They weren't the best of friends in high school, but had reacquainted themselves enough after Alice's return home enough to joke around.

And with that, Alice did find a job at the library, fortunately not pushing a broom, but pushing papers nonetheless. From there she moved into a better position at city parks, public works, and finally City Hall as a clerk. During those years, Alice miscarried twice but finally was able to have twins, Sierra and Alex. She eventually got involved in the PTO – becoming president the second year out of her sheer eagerness – and then precinct captain in her neighborhood.

"My big break came when Mayor Evans decided to end his 35 year career in civil service," she said to Sgt Quilliam. "I went to the courthouse, wrote a $50 check and filed the necessary papers for candidacy. I ran a campaign embracing the mayor's legacy but looking to the future of Central Washington and what we could do for farmers with different environmental practices and new technology. The time was right for some small change and I was lucky enough to get the mayor's support, even though I ran a Democrat.

"You see, Mayor Evans had no regard for the city councilman who decided to run as the Republican candidate. The guy was a complete buffoon and had made the mayor's last five years in office particularly miserable. So, he threw his name behind me, causing no small amount of gossip, and found that indeed, it still did carry some weight in our town.

She paused, ready to revel just a bit. "I won the election handily, 53 – 47% and at the age of 40, I suddenly found herself the mayor of Moses Lake Washington."

"Wow. That's quite the journey," said Quilliam. "It obviously turned out well for you."

"Well, yes and no." She took a deep swallow, knowing that she would have to get to this point in the story eventually. "Initially, I dove right into my job and quickly found success passing initiatives that were near my 'environmental bleeding heart.'" She wasn't sure about Quilliam's politics, but she often throughout this provocative moniker just to see if she could get a reaction..

"You know, because of the Columbia and Snake Rivers, the Northwest enjoys the cheapest electricity rates in the nation, thanks to all the hydro-electric dams. But here was my chance to finally do something, so I started small, with light bulbs. I got the council to agree to replace all the incandescent and halogen bulbs that we owned with fluorescents and LEDs, both inside and out.

"Then, I heard about some other cities which installed power generators in their dumps to turn all the methane into energy. We got that approved, so that had the double shot of reducing our carbon footprint, and making more power which we sold back to the utilities."

"Cool."

My big coup d'etat was retrofitting most of Moses Lake's big vehicles to use natural gas and all the smaller vehicles became hybrids. That move saved us $50,000 in gasoline in the first year, let alone reducing our carbon footprint again."

"I can see that this was an important theme in your administration."

"Well, it's not the only thing I did you understand. As mayor you still have to do all the ribbon-cuttings, and council meetings, and politics, and fund raising and all that. But this actually counted for something. In fact, I received an environmental leadership award from the National Association of Mayors after just five years in office." She beamed with obvious pride for a few moments.

And then, like a cloud that slowly passes in front of the sun, Sgt Quilliam watched as a sudden sense of dread and grief came over Alice's face. For it wasn't long after that that the first of two disasters fell on the mayor of Moses Lake, Washington.


	2. Double Disasters

"I'm so sorry," she said to Quilliam as she shifted in her seat in the limo, glancing at the officer through moist eyes. She turned her face fully toward the window, letting her red-turning-auburn hair fall next to her eyes to preserve some dignity.

"I didn't mean to pry," said Sergeant Quilliam "There's no need to finish if it bothers you. I was only 10 or 11 when the dam blew up."

She could have easily used his misunderstanding as an out. But she didn't.

"You didn't pry. My pain is part of my journey and every time I repeat it, it provides some healing." She reached in her purse for a tissue and wiped her eyes and her nose and took a short quick breath before continuing. "Actually, this part of the story starts before Grand Coulee."

"Daniel – my husband – and I had planned a weekend at the beach with our 10-year-old twins and they had looked forward to it all summer long. The plan was to head the to Fort Canby State Park, at the mouth of the Columbia, that he had grown up loving, maybe you've been there?" He shook his head no." "Well, anyway, I'm sure you know this from your history but it was used as a defense against the Japanese and had concrete bunkers and these huge 15" guns and all that to defend the shore if they ever got close. Of course, the Japanese never got close to our Western shores and the whole installation was decommissioned after the war. Oh I'm sorry, that's probably too many details."

"Are you kidding me?" Quilliam said excitedly. "Remember I work for Uncle Sam and those weren't small potato guns! Go on."

"Anyway, these concrete bunkers are really popular with the youth groups and kids who come down and play capture the flag and stuff."

"Sweet! I would be all over that!"

"Well, I hate dark places and caves and stuff and I get claustrophobic in small spaces, but I was willing to go along just to see Daniel come alive with the twins. Unfortunately, an 'incident' between one of my employee and the 22 year old intern he supervised came up and threatened to interfere with the trip. Daniel said they could postpone to another weekend, but I knew that getting a new reservation for camping spots at this time of year at that state park was not going to happen. So I told them to gone on without me."

She still savored the memory of that Thursday morning when she gave them quick hugs and kisses and told Daniel she had something special for him when he returned. His eyes got big and she spun around on her high-heels towards the front door, casting a knowing look and a wink over her shoulder before rushing off to the personnel disaster she'd spend the weekend cleaning up. The tears started to come now.

"They left Thursday morning and it was the last time I saw them alive. On their way back from the beach, a semi-truck's load of timber came loose in front of their car on I-90, two miles east of the Snoqualmie Summit.

"I am so sorry ma'am. I didn't know." Silence settled over them as she gazed out the window vacantly thinking back to the six months of intense grief that eclipsed even her campaign. She had lost her ability to keep cool under pressure and would break down unexpectedly in city council meetings. She choked up at more than one ribbon cutting ceremony and completely choked her state of the city speech. With another fourteen months to go to complete her term, Alice's friends convinced her she needed a break to process her grief and to their great surprise she listened.

"I quit my position after four months because I couldn't handle myself in public very well anymore. The grief was too much." She looked down into her shredded tissue, wondering why she was baring her soul to a stranger. "Nine months later, that's when the dam terrorists struck," she said bitterly.

She had no need to explain what most people in the nation, certainly everybody in the military, knew by now. For years, environmentalists had been frustrated with the government's answer for Pacific salmon recovery on both the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Fanatics within the movement, decided to a send a message the government would never forget. Two weeks after the anniversary of 9/11, they ripped the same play from the Al-Qaeda book. A couple of young men who had grown up in the region had been radicalized by a Northwest environmental group in their twenties. Biding their time, over the course of a decade, they did everything necessary to to become unquestionable candidates for flight school, working first at the Portland International Airport throwing luggage and getting small aircraft pilots licenses.

When the time was right, they successfully enrolled in a commercial flight school just outside Moses Lake uses the former Army base's runway to practice touch-and-goes with Boeing 737's. By the time they had taken out their instructor and were clearly off-route, there was really no time for any interception from the Air National Guard out of Spokane. The Grand Coulee Dam was only a 10 minute flight in an airliner and they downed it into the northern wall of the dam.

The results at Grand Coulee weren't as spectacular as the Twin Towers: it was a smaller jet and it wasn't fueled for long distances so the dam was nowhere close to being demolished. But enough of the North wall was breached to send about twenty-percent of Lake Roosevelt down the Columbia River, washing other reservoirs over their dams. The tiny cities below each of the next four dams downstream - Bridgeport, Brewster, Pateros, and Azwell - were all completely destroyed with almost total loss of life. The bigger cities of Wenatchee and the Tri-Cities much farther downstream had more forewarning so fewer people died but significant destruction occurred all the way to The Dalles Oregon. "How much do you know about the Grand Coulee Dam?" asked Alice.

"Oh, probably about what the average citizen does - was built during the Great Depression I think.. I grew up in Germany and Japan. Army brat. And I haven't lived stateside all my life except for the past three months. Fill me in. I could probably use a history refresher," said Sgt. Quilliam.

"OK. Well, you seem to be a sucker for details so tell me if I'm boring you. Grand Coulee was a project of the FDR administration, started in 1933 and completed in 1942. It remains to this day one of of the largest structures built by man. It stretches nearly a mile across the mighty Columbia River and stands 550 high. Appropriately, they named the reservoir it created Lake Roosevelt and it holds more than 9.4 million acre feet of water. It was the primary reason for Central Washington's agricultural boom took hold."

Alice went on to explain that Grand Coulee was the largest power-producing plant in the nation (actually 4 plants fed directly from the dam) and the sixth largest in the world. The entire Columbia Basin project accounted for 44% of the nation's hydroelectric power production and supplied the cheapest power in the nation which Pacific Northwesterners had grown used to. Overnight, power generation was cut by two-thirds. Farmers also lost access to cheap irrigation and the economy of Central Washington completely collapsed.

"As you know, National Guardsman are posted in almost every city in the area and most people - even though they're Tea Party Republicans and don't like Federal presence - well, they welcomed the sense of order they offered," said Alice. "Then came Roger Noam."

"Councilman Noam is an able administrator and a decent CPA and was the presiding chair of the City Council when I was mayor. When I stepped down, he stepped up. The only thing was, and there's no need to be discreet here, he's a lousy politician. He hated doing the public part of the public office stuff, and was shell shocked by the disaster. He fumbled his way through countless meetings with federal officials pushing their way into town offering emergency help."

"Noam couldn't hack it and within three months, he threw up his hands and tendered his resignation, caving to the pressure of a job he didn't ask for and couldn't perform. None of the other council members were brave enough to step forward so they voted to hold an emergency mayoral election in 30 days. I think the disaster was shocking enough to snap me out of my grief and I put my name on my ballot. Guess what, nobody else was stupid enough to do the same so at the age of 48, there I am taking the oath of office again as Moses Lake Mayor."

She let out a long sigh before going on to detail the next ten years. "With no family obligations other than an ailing mother to slow me down this time I threw myself at the immense task of rebuilding a local economy with unbridled passion and energy. I suppose there was an unspoken rage behind it all, just under the surface, but nobody complained and most I had plenty to be angry about with the loss of my family and the betrayal of the environment by idiots.

"The flood down the Columbia killed millions of fish, the ones that the terrorists thought they were saving and it pretty well pissed off the real environmentalists. I'm sure you've seen pictures of the co-conspirators that were dumped unceremoniously in downtown Portland - in the city square - right across from the courthouse."

"Dipped in tar and fish guts if I remember right," said Quilliam and both he and Alice burst out laughing at the images of three other men tied up naked in Pioneer Square with fish scales and entrails stuck all over their black gooey bodies.

"They deserved it, and more. But the attack didn't stop the fighting with the feds over the dams and pretty soon, everything was at a stalemate over rebuilding plans again. My town couldn't wait for those answers to play out so I quickly got to work our region's issues. Most mayors, smaller towns mainly, had no idea what the next step was so I talked with federal officials and international experts and Washington State University, the land grant college, and we got a plan together. Figured out new crops that didn't require as much water and industry that didn't depend on cheap electricity. And it worked. Then the temperature started going up precipitously every year and that totally changed the nature of what we grow too."

Alice went on to describe how summers began to lengthen into fall and winters warmed up on both ends. Forest fires in the Northwest, which had already consumed millions of acres for many summers before, became the state's largest annual challenges. One year, more than a third of the Evergreen State's national forests burned down in a single season. This, accompanied by shifting jet streams that tended to keep weather patterns swirling above the region, caused the air to fill with smoke for the better half of six months after the fires died down each year. Some likened it to Mount St. Helens in SW Washington which blew its stack in 1980, sending an ash cloud that reached all the way around the world, except that this one never really dissipated. Kids were especially susceptible to the smoke in the air and an epidemic of asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and related disorders nearly collapsed the health care system. Similar regional eco-disasters of different types and orders dotted the hemisphere.

Alice reached up and brushed a tear away from her face with a sniffle. She'd done alright as mayor given the circumstances, and although she hadn't told anybody yet, she was ready to be done after her ten years. She was tired and it was time to let somebody younger than her have the reins. And that's about when a certified letter from the Department of Defense showed up on her desk giving her an excuse to get out of the rat race.

Quilliam spoke up gently, giving her some space to breathe: "I don't think I've ever met somebody that I could say I respect so much, not even my commanding officer who fought in both Afghanistan and Iraq. For a civilian, no offense, to jump back into that mess when you've lost…." he dropped the rest of sentence awkwardly. "Well, everything important. I just have to say I feel so honored to meet someone like you. I really am." His words were genuine and poured a needed boost of encouragement into Alice's heart.

"Thank you. Well, like Frodo said, 'All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.' So that's what I did. Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly as she looked out the window," We're on the outskirts of Spokane.

The Sgt didn't tell her it was actually Gandalf's quote and just smiled, ready for a change in the conversation. "Where did you say you went to school?"

"Gonzaga."

"Good school," he said. "That's right across from the National Guard Armory. We're headed there now."

"Really! Well it will be fun to see campus again." she replied. She threw her tissue in her purse, fingering the envelope she received three months ago that had brought her here today and ingloriously ending her career. She stepped down with the excuse of a sudden and emergent health issue and was travelling elsewhere to receive treatment. She pulled it out and read it again, wondering exactly what she was ending her public career for.

CONFIDENTIAL – OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BUSINESS

Mayor Harken –

It is my pleasure to inform you of your selection by the Department of Defense for an assignment I think is custom made for you. In light of ecological disasters that you are well familiar with, the federal government has prepared and secured facilities in case the climate worsens and the general health of our citizenry plummet with it. These will be populated with US adults and children mainly from your region. Facilities are equipped to provide for many years of self-sustenance with internal power generators and food production. They will be sealed and secured to protect from outsides forces, both natural and human.

Should you choose to accept it, you have been selected to serve as the civil administrator for the DOD because of your excellent reputation and ability demonstrated in Moses Lake for the past two decades. You may submit the names of three trusted associates of yours to assist you in setting up your government with these exceptions: they are subject to DOD background checks, must be single and unattached, and may not come if they have any children under the age of 18 or dependents. You may not consult with them in advance, but please understand, both for yourself and for them: this is likely a lifetime commitment.

You have 48 hours to respond to this offer and if you choose to decline, are sworn to strict confidentiality about this letter….

She had never heard of the General Henry McIntosh that signed the letter. He certainly wasn't one of the many in military leadership she'd met during her time as mayor. How her reputation had gotten the attention for a national issue was beyond her. Still, she had accepted the offer three months ago,, which meant she was either too tired to resist or too proud to recognize it as a fool's errand.

They rolled through Downtown on Division Street and headed north towards the river. She could see the Zags university clock tower and as they drove by, she looked longingly towards it. "I wish I could walk around campus."

Quilliam didn't answer her. "I'm sorry. We're here, ma'am," he announced moving back into stoic military mode as they pulled up to the machine-gun guarded fence which quickly swung open for them and quickly swung shut. As they rolled to a stop, another officer approached the car door, opened it and Sergeant Quilliam exited the vehicle, saluting him. After a couple of brief words that she couldn't overhear, Quilliam motioned for Mayor Harken to join him. He escorted her into a small building, which sat adjacent to a larger one.

Thankfully, she was allowed to use the facilities, after which the sergeant led her down a hallway into a conference room with a long table. As she entered, three men stood from the other side of the table, one in a general's uniform and the other two in plaid shirts with loosened ties.

"Mayor Harken…." the general said and came around the table to greet her, his hand warmly extended. "I'm so glad you made it safely. I'm General Henry McIntosh and I'm sure you have a lot of questions."


	3. The Briefing

Dinner was brought in and for half an hour the General asked how things were going in Moses Lake, especially curious about the federal response and the integration of National Guardsmen alongside local law enforcement. He seemed well briefed on the Columbia Basin Project plans, waiting for the day it made it out of the "dam courts." He chuckled as he said it and shared details that even Alice wasn't yet privy to on the reconstruction commission she was a part of.

The General – he insisted that she call him Henry – was affable enough, clearly having polished his general likability over the years of moving up through the ranks of the army. He had kind eyes, but behind them, Alice discerned a subtle tinge of resigned sadness. Fortunately, she did not sense was being evaluated– he had clearly made up his mind that she was capable of the task at hand that she had yet to be introduced to.

The other two men were quasi-civilians, though still in the employ of the U.S. Army. Dr. Sam Turtling was not a practicing medical doctor anymore, but had been studying the effects of the increased pollution in the NW air as a public health issue. He spoke in crisp-matter-of-fact sentences that made him the braniac in the room. He had clearly chosen his profession well, thought Harken, because he had no bedside manner whatsoever and she cringed at thinking of ever having to be treated by him as a patient.

Bill Cloving was a civil engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers and carried himself seriously but friendly. She wondered how the Corps could spare any engineers at this time, since they were the primary government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of federal dams. He was much more genteel and didn't seem to have as much ego invested in his work as Turtling. Both were about her age and neither wore wedding bands, she saw at a glance. It's something she was starting to do more frequently over the past couple of years. The slightest tingle in her lower belly reminded her she was still a woman, even after all her loss

Just as they were finishing dinner, the hallway door opened abruptly and in stepped a 6' 2" man in army fatigues and steely look on his face. A scar on his temple was visible with his closely cropped hair. Alice judged him to be about 65, but even more battle weary looking than she felt. He stood to attention and saluted the general who simply said, "At ease Colonel Gray."

He closed the door behind him and introduced himself with a forced smile. "Mayor Harken, my name is Colonel Gray. It is a pleasure to meet you." The last sentence was added as a formality, Alice thought, because if she took Dr. Turtling for a cold fish, this guy was like a frozen fish stick. Suddenly, Alice wondered if her decision to work for the Army had been ill-considered. She managed a "pleased to meet you too," averting the intensity of his eyes.

"My apologies to you all for being late. We had a hold up in Umatilla that prevented me from getting here on time," said Col. Gray as he sat down.

"Anything to be considered about," asked General McIntosh with raised eyebrows.

"No sir. Nothing at all," replied Gray with a look that said, "We can talk about it later.".

"Good, we were just getting ready to dive into business" said the general, reaching for the coffee pot in the center of the table. "Anybody here need a little caffeine?" Everybody took a cup eagerly and when they'd all been served, Alice didn't wait for the general to start.

"OK, let's cut the crap Mac. Are you going to tell me what I just rode off into the sunset with no retirement party for?" She locked eyes with the general who, hearing her question, nearly spilled the drink of coffee he was just starting to slurp. The two scientists tensed up a little the room, having avoided conflict throughout their careers the best they could. Gray didn't flinch.

She'd used the tactic with federal and state officials over the past ten years to let them know that even if they were there to help her, Moses Lake was her town and she was in charge. Usually it worked and garnered her the respect that she wanted and only in a few cases did it backfire. She waited for his response.

The general set his coffee down gently and chuckled. "Mayor Harken –"

"You can call me Alice, Henry, no need to be formal here among friends right?" still trying to control the tone in the room.

"Alice then. Wellllll," he drawled in a Southern accent, "It's just that kind of chutzpah that caught our attention when we went looking for someone to be in charge of this thing. And I'm surprised it took half an hour to come out, based on your reputation."

Alice's face flushed a little. He'd politely called her bluff.

"Actually, of the six civil administrators I've appointed this year, I think I like you the most so far."

"Six administrators?" Alice asked.

"Yes, and those are just the ones in the Western U.S. that I have jurisdiction over."

He continued, "Perhaps it would be better for our esteemed Dr. Turtling to explain the details. After all, I understand that you're an environmentalist and that might ease us into the realities of your assignment. Doctor, would you do the honors of explaining just what kind of predicament we find ourselves in?"

Turtling cleared his throat and opened up a manila folder in front of him, sliding a bound set of papers - at least 100 pages long - across the table to Alice.

"You can read about this in your spare time," he said dryly. "But the long and short of it is that the U.S. is on a rapid decline in air quality and the modeling that NOAA, the National -"

"Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I know what NOAA is and I even know how it's spelled. Continue," interrupted Alice.

Dr. Turtling resumed his sentence, visibly irritated, "`That NOAA has done for the next ten years says it's only going to get worse, much worse. In fact, the epidemic we've seen among children and teens here is already taking hold amongst the greater population and manifesting itself in more serious forms. I'm sure you have already seen that personally in Moses Lake," he said in an annoyingly pointed way.

Alice thought about how her mom had died last year to lung cancer at the same time as her aunt to the same disease. She assumed it must have just been a genetic disposition in the family – neither had smoked nor lived with people that had. She nodded slowly, "I suppose I have," not betraying her emotions or letting him know he'd landed a punch.

"In the next five to ten years, those who don't migrate elsewhere are going to see a devastation that nobody in our generation has experienced. The effects of this, once they take hold of in the human body, are a kind of lung disease – pneumoconiosis - that coal miners suffered from in the last century. Eventually this is going to kill off entire Northwest communities and it's not curable."

"Then why don't the Feds assist people with migration efforts north more quickly?" asked Alice.

"Well, as you can understand the Canadian government has been open to some immigration," started the General, "but their prime minister has communicated that the graciousness of his country only goes so far and there's talk of erecting a border fence just like we did on the Southern Border 20 years ago. They've got their own problems as the ice caps and tundras have melted."

"Alaska?" offered Alice.

"Sure, it's an option for the rugged individualists," said the Doctor. "The temperatures have moderated a little bit, but frankly it's all still so wild there that most people are content to stay in populated areas like Vancouver or Victoria, which are having difficulty with all the migrants. But even those cities are going to be affected by this within a decade," he said grimly.

"So, tell me about these "self-sustaining facilities" you've prepared. Are you planning to put us in a time capsule and bury us?" she asked the Doctor.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh or not and instead fumbled with his papers, looking down at the table when Bill cleared his throat rescuing him.

"Well, actually, you've come pretty close to hitting the nail on the head," he said, the sentence coming out more grimly than he probably intended. "But, we've learned some lessons from other facilities that have been up and running for a couple of years already so I think Ember is going to fare the best of all of them."

"Ember?" asked Harken. "Is that what you're calling this town?"

"Yes," said Bill sitting up straight with a little pride. "As one of the chief engineers of the facility, I was given the honor of naming it. I felt like we needed to name it with some hope and fire embers can be rekindled into flames, even though they appear to have died."

Alice looked at Dr. Cloving, who rolled his eyes ever so slightly. Well, now I know who the optimist is and who the pessimist in this group is, she thought.

Bill began to explain the former mining facility in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the range along the Idaho-Montana border not so far from where Lewis and Clark had first crossed into the Northwest Territory more than 200 years ago. "When the army did a full expedition, we found a grand cavern that rivaled that of Carlsbad in New Mexico. So, we quickly acquired the property through emin - "

At this, the general cleared his throat making it clear he was crossing a threshold of details that wasn't her business to know.

"Well," he resumed, "Other than building a sustainable infrastructure inside, we had few improvements to the cavern itself to make it stable, especially compared to some of the other labor intensive efforts around the nation."

"OK Bill that's good." The General cut him short again. Bill slightly glared at the general but kept his mouth shut. Alice could see some tension mounting and decided to take control again.

"So food production, energy, fresh air and water, sanitation…that's all taken care of?" she said, ticking off the most important things that came to her mind. She had grabbed a pen from the table and wrote some other things down that could wait.

"Like Bill said," started the General, "we've been through this before not just with these cities but with other military complexes like Crystal Mountain in Wyoming. It's not a secret," he emphasized, "that NORAD has been living under a mountain since the 1960's. A lot of the technology to make these places habitable frankly isn't all that revolutionary."

"Yes," interjected Bill excitedly grabbing the conversation back to talk about what clearly was his domain. "Again, fortunately for us there is a mountain-fed underground aquifer that flows through the caves. It's clean, purer than most city water supplies, and flows year round, even over the past decade. At the elevation of the mountains sitting above Ember, there's snow all twelve months of the year and the city is located a mile underneath that."

"A mile?" she exclaimed. Alice let out a low whistle.

"A small hydro-electric facility has been set up inside the cavern - nothing as big any of the Columbia dams mind you - that should more than adequately cover the needs of the city. In fact, we have had to find ways to cut back on how much energy it produces for the size of city it will sustain. Simply put, Ember will never have an electrical problem."

Bill went on to explain hydroponic food production, sanitation, air filtration, building design, and other technical measures they had taken that answered nearly all the things Alice had written down. The doctor told her of the medical facilities they had installed and that another medical doctor would be part of the team, as a back up and for training purposes. The General explained the modified martial law that would be in effect, which kept most principles of U.S. democracy intact. She was satisfied.

"Well, gentlemen, I'm impressed you found a hole that is deep enough to bury us in. I hope you'll leave some coordinates for people to find us when the time is right. My husband did plenty of geo-caching when he was alive and even when had the coordinates couldn't always find the Tupperware hidden in the woods using your multi-million dollar satellites. Just don't forget about us."

The general chuckled. Bill smiled knowingly. Dr. Turtling had no idea what she was talking about. And when Col. Gray's voice piped in next to her, Alice jumped, because in the entire 60 minutes they had been talking she'd really only heard make his introductions and apology for being being tardy.

"Actually Mayor Harken - and please don't ask me to call you Alice - we're going in with you. That is, Mr. Cloving, Dr. Turtling and myself. General McIntosh will staying topside to monitor the health of the Western U.S. facilities."

Oh great, thought Alice. Just what I wanted to deal with in my retirement: being buried alive with "Dr. Coldblood" and "Col. Graystone." She stopped herself from making up a nickname in her mind for Bill, because actually of the three, she liked him the most because he exuded the most hope for the whole endeavor.

"And just what is your assignment in this whole miserable affair, Col. Gray?" It was a little cold, but she wanted to let him know that she could stick with formalities too. "Am I your subordinate or are you mine?"

Col. Gray paused before answering and then said carefully. "Actually, it is my hope that we will lead together in partnership. This is a military operation, may I remind you. But we recognize the need for civilian leadership for those who are used to a 'softer' form of authority. My squadron will provide what minimal security needs there are, but it won't be much considering the population that will establish our fine city. My men and women will mainly attend to infrastructure maintenance and construction projects. Most of them have a trade: electricians, plumbers, builders, etc. I will also be the liaison to the high command although our communication with the outside world will be kept to a minimum and for emergency purposes only.

"So, to answer your question, you can speak softly to the people and I'll carry the big stick. We'll do the heavy lifting and you can do the easy work," he said, ever so satisfied with his answer.

He didn't really answer her question, she thought, but she understood her situation. This was not your regular city being incorporated under the U.S. constitution or some state's laws – heck, she didn't even ask if they were going to be in Idaho or Montana so it's not like jurisdictions were going to matter. Clearly, this operation would be run like a military base except populated with non-military personnel. Nevertheless, she knew they wouldn't have asked a civilian to lead the people if they didn't need someone with her skill set.

"And what of the population base. Who do we get to lead together, sergeant?" she asked, changing the topic to safer territory.

"In addition to my squadron and the administration of half of dozen, it will be 100 citizens from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington, 50% of each gender, all of them single, all of them 60 years or older. All in good health and without any detectable lung issues. They also have been selected based on previous work experience to lend a hand. But their main assignment will be "parenting" with a randomly assigned member of the opposite gender to a pair of foster infants from around the region. These are babies that have been kept in isolation from outside pollutants their entire lives, mostly outside the region. This will minimize the amount of exposure they've had to the smoke and should result in longer lives."

"Why single seniors and infants and nobody in between?"

"Well, this is one of the lessons we learned from our first couple of underground settlements," said General McIntosh. "Communication to the topside indicated that when people came in knowing each other and having a history of relationship together that it actually made it harder to forget the world they came from and build a new life. We'd like, to some degree, for the babies to grow up not thinking about the world above them until it is safe to emerge and that could be a generation or two."

So, this is to be a tomb and a social engineering experiment, all wrapped up together, thought Alice. How convenient.

"Not only that," Col. Gray continued, "There will be no communication to the outside world or Internet access coming in. Cell phones will be of no use so will be prohibited. We'll be dialing back communication technology to the 1980's which will completely suffice for this generation."

Harrumphing silently as if only younger people below used technology, she swiveled in her chair towards the man in charge. "General, you told me in my letter that I got to choose three trusted administrators. Do I still get them since we've had a 'history of relationship' together already?"

The General smiled, "Yes, we'll keep our promise to you there. You have to have some people you can trust to help establish some civil order and we didn't stick precisely with the 60 year old requirement for civil servants and Col. Gray's men. As the older generation passes on, we recognize the need for some still able bodied people to run the place for a while and provide some continuity before handing it off to the next generation. We can't risk leaving the success of this whole endeavor in the hands of teenagers."

She nodded, agreeing to the logic. So, that meant her three made the cut. Roger Noam, who would have no need of practicing politics, would be her able numbers man. Joseph Munk would be the head of public works: Alice was very glad to have put him on the list considering the situation they were entering into. His wife had died just the prior year and she felt sorry for him to be alone in Moses Lake without her. Susie Humboldt, the human relations director that Mayor Evans had pointed Alice to for a job, had definitely proven herself trustworthy over the years, capably managing the personnel crisis the same weekend that Daniel and- she broke the thought off.

"We've complemented Noam, Munk and Humboldt with a few more capable people that match you'll get along fine with."

She nodded and took her glasses off, involuntarily rubbing her temples. The day was starting to wear on her. She gathered her thoughts. "One last question, when do we depart for Ember and when do the new 'citizens' arrive?"

"Tomorrow," answered General McIntosh. "We'll leave at 2000 hours after dinner. Civvies are still arriving today by train and bus you will have a chance to greet them tomorrow before we depart. it's only a two or three hour trip.

"The second stage of the trip into Ember will take the better part of the evening down to a landing where you'll rest overnight. Then through the tunnels to the city itself. By Monday morning, you'll be in charge of your own city again," he said, as if that were some consolation. "Get your rest tonight. Tomorrow will be a helluva long day."

"Very well then. Gentlemen, thanks for everything, I am definitely ready to turn in for the night."

The men stood up and said their goodbyes and Col. Gray opened the door for Alice. Staff Sergeant Quilliam had been standing guard and saluted the Colonel. He didn't ask any questions as he led Alice to her quarters for the night. She thanked him, not knowing if she'd see him tomorrow. Looking around the Spartan apartment, saw her luggage had already been placed here; it looked comfortable enough for a single night with her own bathroom and shower. As she unwound with a loooong hot shower, not knowing whether she would ever get one again in her life, all of the day's emotions she had held at bay came tumbling out in heaves and sobs.

Setting her head on the pillow she thought about all that she had heard over the past few hours. Her mind was dizzying with all the facts, still unknowns and possibilities about Ember. What bothered her most was the idea of descending into a cave, grave, whatever, one mile under a mountain and nobody that she knew or loved would ever know what became of her. Even with no husband or heirs, the thought of her just disappearing off the face of the earth was unsettling, no matter what story the DOD would concoct on her behalf. Undoubtedly the most original thing they would probably come up with would be that her medical treatment had failed and she suddenly died. As she drifted off to sleep all she could think about was how much easier this would be if she still had Daniel.


	4. Parenting Partners

It was Saturday morning and the birds were chirping as if it were spring, yet another unpleasant reminder that the seasons were misaligned. But Alice was glad for a solid night's sleep and took advantage of the late schedule, at least according to her standards. She usually started the day with at least an eight mile jog, followed by a half on hour of reading the news, and fifteen minutes of leadership reading over breakfast. Then there was the morning preparation for whatever day's actual challenges were going to be.

But Alice knew there would be plenty of work in the days ahead and luxuriated in sleeping for 10 hours. She still went for a jog around the armory, taking every chance she could to cement the memory of her alma mater across the street into her mind. It took 30 laps to even feel fatigued and she knew it wasn't her full workout, but good nonetheless.

She took a stroll through the mess hall to see what food she could stomach and found the favorite breakfast of northwest men: biscuits and sausage gravy. She opted for an apple and banana and a cup of oatmeal and cranberry juice and she quickly returned to her room to get her reading in for the day. The news didn't seem to be an urgent matter anymore so she focused on diving into her 100 page briefing document.

Besides the schedule for the next few days, the brief included more scientific background on the air quality, some population projections in the worst case scenario, and technical details of the preparations for Ember. It went over a lot of the things they had discussed the previous night, but in much finer detail. There were bios of her chief administrators, the list of military personnel and all of the citizens. Pictures of everybody were included to help her get to know her "constituency." There was nothing about the children biographically - apparently their history or names meant nothing.

It also included a basic guide to the civic rules under which the city would be set up and a contractual agreement about the partnership she would have within the military structure. The military would have all the power and she the pretty face on the whole package, she realized. Oh well, too late now. She scrawled her name quickly across the bottom. None of it was difficult material, but she realized there was more work to be done for Ember to thrive and survive, both physically and communally. There was nothing in the documentation that said how long they intended to keep them underground. She jotted a few notes down for her introductory remarks she would gave later.

Lunchtime came and as she was heading towards the private officers dining area, she was delighted to see Roger Noam, Joseph Munk, and Susie Humboldt ahead of her in the hallway, along with a few others. They were busily chatting and didn't hear her come up behind them and say, "Oh hey Roger. How's it going? Did you finish the report up for the city attorney?"

"I'm sorry Mayor Harken. I haven't had - wait what, WHAT are you doing here? She started laughing and gave him a hug. "Mayor Harken!" her friends exclaimed all asking questions at once. "What are you doing here? We thought you were off for medical treatment." "How long have you been here?" "We didn't see you at breakfast."

"Well, I guess I've still got a few more surprises up my sleeves at my age," she said in answer to all of them after they stopped long enough to take a breath.

Bill Cloving introduced Sarah Edwards, Dr. Victor Silverman, and William Bolio. Alice introduced her old friends to her new co-workers. Hugs were exchanged among old friends and handshakes among the new. Edwards would lead education efforts, Silverman was another M.D., and Bill Bolio was an electrical engineer. Dr. Coldblood stood off awkwardly to the side.

They headed into the mess hall and grabbed trays, talking loudly and attracting the attention of several dozen seniors and grunts. They moved to a private room for officers and saw they got something the others didn't get: Mmm…Starbucks…the great gift of the Northwest to the world. Oh, I hope they stocked us with Starbucks, she thought.

The nine of them began to talk about their career histories and families: Alice, Sarah, Joseph and William were all widowed; Dr. Silverman, Roger, Bill and Susie were all divorced; and not surprisingly, Dr. Turtling never married. Most of their parents had passed away, there was a mixture of both living and dead siblings, but they talked longest about their grandchildren- a total of 55 between them.

Alice leaned back and sipped her coffee, watching the dynamics beginning to taking shape. It was nice to see at least part of her "new administration" beginning to gel and she knew enough when to let things form on their own and stay out of it. She also noticed Sarah and William also seemed to pay a lot of attention to each other.

Dr. Turtling looked at his watch and said, "Well, I've got some more packing up to do and might try to slip in a nap since it's going to be a long night. See you at dinner time." He grabbed his dishes and left. The others remained for a couple more hours getting to know each other, and then headed back to their rooms.

Alice took one more long shower even though she knew they wouldn't go without, but she was already starting to feel a desire to hoard. She grabbed the extra shampoos and soaps she didn't use, stuffed them in her bag with her belongings, redid her makeup and headed to dinner with her briefing manual in satchel. The mess hall was much fuller now and it appeared that all of the seniors were there. She smiled at those who made eye contact with her and dipped her head in a slight gesture of honor, something she learned on agricultural trade trips to Japan. She could hear the echo of crying infants emanating from somewhere. They all ate dinner more quickly and quietly than lunch: a very hearty lentil and beef stew. She knew they needed the protein tonight and the soft foods were considerate of the seniors who probably had a fair amount of false teeth.

Finished with dinner, people started heading to the assembly hall where the sixty and seventy year olds were being directed into distinct groups of men and women. She walked up alongside Col. Gray and said, "Are you ready?"

"As ever," he said. "Let's get this over with."

They walked up onto a low stage, with Col. Gray allowing Mayor Harken to lead the way. She stepped up to a podium, turned the microphone on, and before speaking made her best effort to look everyone in the room in the eyes. She noted that the majority of the seniors looked like the typical historical Northwest populace: some Asian, some Hispanic, a few African Americans but largely Caucasian. She thought she knew a couple of them by name recognizing them from their directory photos.

Deep breath. OK. Here we go. "Good evening my friends, my name is Alice Harken and I want to start by saying thank you for the incredible sacrifice you have made to serve your nation, your communities and the family and friends you have left behind.

"Tonight, we will begin a journey together that will go well beyond our lifetimes, even though a bunch of you still look like spring chickens." Some laughter tittered through the crowd. "And together we will build a community that your parents would have and your children will be proud of, a community that is a seed in the ground as insurance against the future. All of us have parents that told us of the Great Dust Bowls and the Great Depression and the Great Wars. So I know that we have been imbued with the strength it will take for us as we forge ahead into the unknown."

Alice stopped for just a moment to catch herself. "I do not yet know your personal stories, but I hope to learn them soon. I have the deepest for you and can relate to the difficulty of the decision you made to come here tonight. So, I honor you for answering this call."

Nobody knew if they were supposed to clap or not and a bit of applause came out awkwardly from around the room. Alice jumped into the void and said "I'd like to introduce you to Col. Gray. Together, we will provide joint leadership of this endeavor and he is going to explain some instructions now."

Col. Gray stepped forward and Alice stepped back to where he had been standing behind her. "Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for your cooperation in making this an orderly affair. As an officer who has given his life in service to his country and the ideals of democracy, I stand with Mayor Harken in saluting you for the bravery of your choice that has led you here tonight." With that, Lt .Gray stood to full attention and saluted the crowd. Many of the men, who had obviously served in the military knew exactly what to do and stood to attention and saluted back. Others nervously looked around not knowing if they were supposed to do the same, but after four seconds, their uneasiness gave way to relief when Col. Gray continued. "Not bad," thought Alice. "That was a nice touch. We'll see how he finishes."

"All of you have received a number that corresponds to the child being assigned to you. It is followed by a two letter combination that corresponds to the person you will be assigned to live with as a family unit. Ladies please form a line in numeric order on this side of the hall," he indicated his right, "and men do the same on this side where you will receive your infant. When you have done so, please find your family unit partner until everybody is paired up. We will then proceed to the buses where you will be provided with supplies for the infants including formula, diapers, etc. We have already put your belongings into rucksacks which are tagged with your unique alphanumeric combination. Are there any questions?"

Col. Gray looked around the room quickly, but if there were questions, nobody was willing to admit them to such an austere and precise man. They'd figure it out eventually.

"Thank you. Please line up in numerical order."

Transferring babies was as orderly as he made it sound, with men in suits handing babies to each man and woman. Alice noted that unlike the older generation, the babies were almost entirely the opposite ethnic mix, the majority looking of African American descent, some darker than others. Alice could only surmise that these had been plucked from the hands of mothers who had found themselves in an unpredicted situation. She was also surprised that most of the children seemed quite content, as if they'd been drugged for the trip. Good thing because nearly all of the seniors looked like they were carrying fine China as they took their young charges into their arms.

Although the baby handoff was orderly, the matching up of senior pairs was a little more awkward, like a junior high dance. People milled around the room looking at each other's letters stuck on their jackets. This did not go as fast as Col. Gray wanted and even though he was standing "at ease" and watching the process a few feet back from the podium, Alice could see he was anything but that. He started to step forward when Alice cleared her throat. He stopped abruptly, turned back and locked eyes with her. She raised her left eyebrow, cocked her head to the right and whispered, "May I?" He stifled a grumble and stepped back.

Mayor Harken approached the podium again. "I am sure that you are all having a grand time getting to know each other already, but unfortunately, we are on military time now and Col. Gray has set a curfew for you." She smiled. "If you have found your partner already, please step to the side of the room so that those remaining can more easily find their mate." Alice grimaced. She meant to say match, but she wasn't going to point out her error by correcting herself.

This sped the process along very quickly and Grey took the microphone again as the last two pairs finally connected. "Thank you all. Once again, your number corresponds to the bus you'll be riding in. Men and women numbered one through thirty-three exit out the front door here, followed by 34-66 through this door, followed by the remaining through this door. Administrative personnel will take the fourth bus." Apparently no instruction was needed for the soldiers who made for the exits more quickly.

Alice went out and monitored the driveway which had four buses waiting and a semi-truck with a bulldozer on top. At the front and the back of the caravan, there were armored, camouflaged vehicles mounted with guns on top. Sheesh, Alice, thought, they were taking security a little more seriously than she thought was necessary. The buses weren't the yellow "Bluebird" brand, but more like the charter buses you would see bringing musicians into town. The few windows that existed on the buses were covered up completely - as if any of these seniors would have any idea where they were headed in the dark. The grunts were busy loading the seniors' rucksacks and gave the administrators a hand with their bags and briefcases.

Col. Gray stepped up quietly beside Alice as she watched the process. "A very efficient operation, wouldn't you say, Mayor Harken?" barely hiding the military pride that came with a lifetime of service. Alice caught it, but pretended to ignore it.

"Of course it is, I wouldn't expect anything less _,_ "It was a half-truth, but she felt anything to cool the tension that was already forming between them would serve her better underground. "You did quite well in there. You make an able leader." Col. Gray turned and looked at her to see if she was serious, but he couldn't quite read her face or voice yet.

Winifred Wilson, numbered 77-CZ got on the bus carefully with her new bald bundle of joy. She had grown up on a farm in South Central Montana, her father lucky enough to survive World War II. Five of her siblings were born before his service and five afterwards, and Winnie was the youngest of the ten. She learned to work hard all her life and never turned away from difficulty, but at the age of 70 was starting to slow down. With all of her siblings and parents and husband deceased, she had little to call family and her own children had moved to far off places and rarely visited home anymore.

Still, she wasn't sure she had made the right choice to leave everything behind. Her memories of her farm were embedded deep in her mind and nobody could take that away from her, even if she wasn't allowed to bring photographs or books. But she never guessed she would be a mother again: my goodness, it had been 35 years since she had held an infant of her own. They said she could name this bright pink faced girl whatever she wanted.

She looked into the pleasant brown eyes of the girl and saw a twinkle that made her think of Betelgeuse, the brightest star light in the skies above her farm. Oh how she longed for the days when she could look up into the night sky and see all the stars in their glory. For the past five years – the skies had become so dusky that you could barely make out the North Star anymore.

Based on her training for the past couple of months, she had already figured out they'd be going underground. Although she had spent all of her life as a farmer's wife, and had a degree in agricultural from Montana State University, they had required her to take a course in hydroponic growth methods along with a few others. She understood the material readily enough and had led the other baby-boomers in applying her knowledge. She saw none of them in the armory so she must have made the first cut. (She hadn't calculated that there might be other shelters they were heading to besides Ember.) They had all finished training a month ago and then had taken a two hour train trip through the farm fields of her ancestors and arrived at the Spokane train station. They bused her to the armory this afternoon, was fed, and given a chance to shower and change into the clothes they provided. They were warm and since it was still in the upper 60s', she thought, "Yep, we're definitely going underground." The whole "handing out babies" business was awfully efficient, but there was no sense of love or connection in it, not yet anyway.

She had been paired up with Stanley Tornick (23-CZ), a 70 year old from Wyoming who had been given a baby boy and had been on the same train with her. They didn't know on the train they were headed to the same destination and besides a polite "good day," they didn't converse at all. To think that they would be randomly paired into a family unit. It was not officially a forced marriage, but an arranged family unit and there were no "nuptial" expectations of anybody. There were also no rules against it either, but at 60 and 70 years old, nobody expected any Harlequin romance novels to be written about the Ember elders.

Stanley came behind her and after she sat in one of the bus seats he asked, "Well hello again Mrs. Wilson, fancy meeting you on public transportation again." He smiled kindly. "Is this seat taken?"

She smiled back and replied, "No. not all, Mr. Tornick, but the first thing you can know about me is that life together – whatever remains of it – is going to be miserable for you if you _ever_ call me Missus again." He laughed out loud, causing the baby to squeal a bit. "Oh sorry Forest. Shh shhh shhhhh. There's a good boy now."

"Forest huh? That was pretty quick. Any reason behind why you chose Forest?"

"I grew up crawling around Yellowstone, my dad was a forest ranger there all his life, and I spent every spare moment there as an adult. You really have no idea how beautiful creation is when you get away from all the crazy technology that fills our lives. I for one am glad to be rid of all it. Fact is, I can proudly say I never even owned a cell phone."

Winifred snickered, and then said "I'm sorry" feeling bad she laughed at him.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Anyway, seeing all the fires over the past few years destroy everything that I considered beautiful in my life, well, I suppose naming him Forest is my way of making sure that memory doesn't die with me. Who knows if he'll ever even see a forest in his lifetime."

Winifred leaned back with the baby against her chest and took a deep breath. She felt for the first time since Gary had died that she may have just found a new soul mate. A few moments of silence passed between them as the last passengers came on the bus.

"Star," she said softly. "I'm naming her Star. Star Light. That's my way of remembering something that was precious to me."

"Mmmmmm…that's nice. I like that a lot. Although I think Star Tornick sounds more natural, don't you."

This time they both burst out laughing, drawing a chorus of shushes from the other parents in the rows around them. They stifled themselves, but continued to quiver with quiet laughter for the next five minutes until an officer came on the bus and announced they'd be leaving. She looked around and wondered why only half the seats were filled. She quickly figured it out as the bus jerked into motion.

The bus ride was horrible. Clearly, the army hadn't thought through the details of transporting infants and had provided no baby seats for the long journey – idiots! Holding a child on your lap for a short trip may have been OK, but a journey of several hours, for seniors? Extraordinary planning, she thought sarcastically. "I sure hope a woman has thought through how many diapers it's going to take to raise 100 babies," she said under her breath.

"What?" said Stanley, who'd clearly mastered the trick of taking a nap sitting upright holding an infant securely.

"Oh nothing, but since you're awake, I need to use the bathroom. Do you think you can hold Star for a second?"

"Sure. It took a little bit of juggling, but Stanley looked like a happy grandfather of twins holding the two infant against him. She grabbed her purse, not that she'd probably be needing it much longer, and headed to the back of the bus to the restroom.

The restroom was nice enough and took a few minutes extra in the restroom to jot some notes down secretly in a small notebook. She couldn't stand the thought of not recording some of the journey down for posterity's sake. She may or may not be able to share it with Star and Forest, but she wanted to write her thoughts down while she had a chance. They'd been on the road for two, maybe three hours, she hadn't looked at what time they left. She thought it was Sunday, but since she couldn't see out the windows - not even the front – she wasn't actually sure. The bus came to a slow stop, the brakes squealing.

"Sorry I took so long, what are we stopping for?" she asked as she returned to her seat to Stanley, but stopped herself quietly as she saw he had already dozed off again, the babies safely tucked up against him. Amazing, she thought, he's going to have to teach me how he does that. She settled back into her seat and seeing that the three of them were sleeping just fine, leaned her head back and decided to take advantage of the opportunity when she could.

The bus started up again. Maybe they were passing through a small town (actually it had been a guarded road blockade with a fence that extended for miles in either direction, topped by razor wire.) They started up into some mildly twisting curves and they could hear the bus engine struggling just a little as it struggled uphill. The curves became tighter and the bus slowed to 10 or 15 MPH around each corner. She was glad that she had taken time to write in the bathroom when the she did because there would have been no way to make out any of her scrawl around theses corners.

Soon, they leveled out, left the pavement onto a gravel road for another mile or two and then slowed to a stop with a sudden jerk. It jolted everybody awake and none too soon. They were all very ready to stretch out their achy, geriatric joints. People started collecting their belongings and babies started crying, but the driver asked everybody to stay in their seats until further notice. From somewhere in the front, bottles of cold pre-mixed formula started being passed back. Winifred shook her head. They thought of refrigerators for baby milk, but didn't think of car seats. Unbelievable. Cold formula! It's a wonder they got these babies to Spokane alive.

After 10 of waiting and feeding babies who didn't much like cold formula, Mayor Harken came on the bus and grabbed the CB microphone to make an announcement. Just as she was about to push her thumb on the button to talk, she looked around the seats somewhat incredulously. "Good evening folks. I can see in their infinite wisdom that the Army failed to provide enough infant seats for all 100 of you. I am so sorry to see that you've had to carry your infants without a chance to rest your arms. Well, let's just hope that they stocked us with enough diapers to get through the next 2-3 years," she said dryly.

A smile spread across Winifred's face. "Oh, I like her Stanley. I like her a lot. Somebody who is not only sensible but also ballsy enough to call a spade a spade, huh Stanley." She turned to look at him, but he had already fallen asleep again with Forest.

The mayor continued. "You'd best get yourself some shuteye. They're going to set up a tent for our last equipping before we go down. It shouldn't be too long, but I'd take whatever rest you can get right now."

Everybody readily complied and the babies finally started to settle down with bottle nipples in their mouth. But Winifred couldn't sleep and now she was just downright jealous of Stanley. She looked around and surreptitiously pulled out her notebook and pen and made a few notes before tucking it away. Then she closed her eyes again.

It wasn't long – she couldn't be sure how long but not long enough – before they were awoken again. The mayor came back on board and quietly announced, "Please gather your belongings and babies and exit carefully. It's a little rocky out here so watch your steps."

Outside the bus, three were a couple of floodlights on top of generators that the seniors shielded their eyes from. A chain of guards were passing rucksacks along a "fire brigade" line. Others were directing them: "Right this way please. That's the way we'll be going in. Please form a line. "

Everybody was very quiet as they took in the rolling hills spread out before them in the full moonlight. "Now that was unusual," she thought. "I haven't seen the moon so bright in a long time. We must be at quite the elevation." She looked up at the tall Ponderosa Pines that went straight as an arrow into the star lit skies. She turned back for a second to look out over the gentle ascent they had made. A single small town in the distance was the only thing she could see of civilization.

They were ushered towards an army tent that was dimly lit, considerate enough of sleeping babies. There was coffee and food in it and a table of some supplies. One by one, the soldiers had the seniors pass them the babies. There was an assembly line of 8 female soldiers changing diapers every efficiently and bundling the babies up in pajamas with little hoods. Meanwhile, other soldiers had the seniors don a heavier jacket that was waterproof, a fresh pair of socks, and some rubber boots. They assisted them putting on baby slings that would allow them to carry the baby attached to their chest. "I could have used this three hours ago" Winnie said to the soldier, who just looked up sheepishly and assisted getting Star into the sling. They also fastened a headlamp to her forehead and showed her the switch. She moved on and was given a light drawstring backpack with an MRE and water bottle in it.

Col. Gray grabbed a megaphone and clicked the button. Unfortunately he had selected the button that emitted a piercing feedback tone. Immediately more than a dozen elderly reached up to their ears and hearing aids and screamed in pain. That caused several babies to wake up and start crying. "I'm sorry about that," he announced through the megaphone that was obviously turned up to its maximum volume.

Alice shot him an icy glare and thought, "what a fiasco" and he dropped the megaphone to his side, uncertain of what to do.

"Well he's a piece of work," Winnie whispered to Stanley. "I wonder what his problem is."

"He's not nearly as bad as my drill sergeant," he replied. "But cut the guy some slack. No operation goes perfectly and I think he's nervous being paired up with that pert little red head Alice," as he nodded towards the mayor. She had started going around the room and stroking babies between their eyes to calm them down. Eventually the babies settled down again and the somewhat flustered Col. Gray just raised his voice over the few squalling babies and said, "I'm sorry about that. Can you all hear me OK?"

Everybody nodded, looking at their babies and avoiding eye contact with him.

"Please try to feed your babies one last time. The infant formula has a tiny bit of sedative to calm the babies down during this journey. We do not want to risk any of you slipping and falling and it will be easier with them sleeping. Your survival is as paramount to the success of this endeavor as much as is the children's."

"The first mile of the path is gradual in most places and cuts back and forth. However, at the bottom of the descent, it will be a little slippery and my men will be there to assist you with getting down safely. We will rest at the bottom for an hour or two before going on our way. If there's no other questions, we'll be on our way."

A white haired lady in the back raised her hand, and said "Excuse me Col. Gray. We've been on the bus for three hours and I've got to pee like racehorse. Is there a toilet we can use?"

Colonel Gray looked really irritated because they were already behind schedule, but before he had a chance to say no, Mayor Harken raised her voice and said, "Ms. Murdo, isn't it?" The woman nodded yes, and beamed a little bit that she was no longer just an alpha-numeric entry in the government's log. "I feel the same way and I'm sure Col. Gray wouldn't mind if we use the bus toilets before we go. Col. Gray, would your squadron be willing to hold some babies while our esteemed citizens relieve themselves?"

He gritted out "Of course. That will be no problem." It took nearly half an hour to unstrap babies, get everybody through the toilets, and loaded up with babies and gear again.

With the exception of the bus drivers and about a dozen guardsmen, the group of 235 adults and infants made their way up a short incline into a lit arched opening in the side of the hill. Two armed guardsmen flanked either side. Winifred took one last look at the moon and the stars and a deep intoxicating breath of the countryside.

Goodbye world, she thought, and walked into the cave.


End file.
